Following in that trend was a young team of BB gun competitors, who returned from Rogers, Ark. Tuesday after triumphing in the 48th Daisy National BB Gun championships.

Headed by individual goal medalist Taylor Slusser of Palmyra, who totaled 481 points out of a possible 500, Palmyra won the team championship by one point with a score of 2,374. Finishing second among the 54 teams was Highmore, S.D. with 2,373.

"It was an extremely close, tough competition," said Palmyra coach Frank Pulli, who was assisted by Doug Hetrick. "Every point counts. There were some 400 shooters and they were all looking to take you down."

In addition to Slusser, the Palmyra team consisted of Maggie Black of Palmyra, Coral Hetrick of Lebanon, Ben Slusser of Palmyra, Matt Weaver of Hershey and alternates Nick Suhr of Harrisburg and Rachel Fisher of Palmyra.

Pulli and Hetrick were assisted with the scorekeeping and bookwork by Stacy Fisher and Kim Hetrick.

The competition consisted of four positions: prone, kneeling, sitting and standing, followed by a safety test that included 25 questions from Daisy's 10 Lesson Curriculum Guide and 25 questions from the National Rifle Association's Yellow BB Gun rulebook.

"This year the test was very difficult," Pulli said.

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"One team that was in contention lost 50 points just on the test. I tell our kids that it's not just about shooting. The test is very important."

The competition is open to youth 8-14, who won't turn 15 before Dec. 31. Taylor Slusser, a rising freshman at Palmyra Area High School, is 14. Suhr, a student at Central Dauphin Middle School, is 11. Suhr also won individual gold as the top alternate with a score of 471.

Pulli said his team stood in third place after the prone, then slipped to fourth after sitting.

The Palmyra Sportsmen s Association s BB Gun team was all smiles while gathering to celebrate its national championship on Tuesday. (LEBANON DAILY NEWS - JEREMY LONG)

"After that, they pulled the targets and nobody knew where they stood," he said.

The competition ground on, despite the building pressure.

"Nobody knew how they were doing, but the kids did great," said Pulli. "To keep your focus under all that pressure is really hard to do."

Slusser said the most difficult part of the week-long trip that included van trips to and from Ark. was pushing forward.

"The hardest part was bouncing back from not such a great shot," he said. "To keep your confidence and not let the pressure get to you. But it was awesome, a very close, tough competition."

The 54 teams qualified for nationals by placing first through third at their state tournaments earlier this year.

In 2006, Palmyra turned in the same score of 2,374 that was good enough for a second-place, silver-medal finish.